White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt launched a scathing critique of far-left CNN journalist Natasha Bertrand on Thursday, accusing her of becoming an unwitting pawn in a scheme to propagate a “fake narrative” aimed at undermining the President of the United States during a press briefing.
“She should be ashamed of herself,” Leavitt asserted, emphasizing that “reporting should revolve around uncovering facts and truth.”
In a report, Bertrand referenced a preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment indicating that strikes on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities had failed to dismantle the program, a claim the administration vehemently denied as entirely inaccurate.
As previously reported by , a ‘Top Secret’ intelligence assessment about these strikes was leaked to CNN, with the network broadcasting this information live on Tuesday. Following the leak, Leavitt informed reporters that the FBI is pursuing the source, deeming the act a criminal offense worthy of imprisonment.
Leavitt reiterated on Thursday, “It’s illegal, and accountability is essential.” She chastised Bertrand for disseminating “leaked fragments of an intelligence assessment to promote a misleading narrative,” clarifying that “what was leaked was merely a low-confidence, preliminary assessment, not the full picture.”
President Trump has weighed in, demanding CNN terminate Bertrand for her “false” reporting, stating she should be “thrown out ‘like a dog.’”
“She misrepresented the Laptop from Hell story, and now she’s misrepresenting the Nuclear Sites story, attempting to undermine our Patriot Pilots by mischaracterizing their efforts when they actually achieved a remarkable success—TOTAL OBLITERATION!” Trump stated.
Trump Calls for CNN’s Natasha Bertrand to Be FIRED and ‘Thrown Out Like a Dog’ — Network Responds
Leavitt also called attention to Bertrand’s track record of promoting discredited narratives, such as her claims surrounding the Hunter Biden laptop, the origins of COVID-19, and the “suckers and losers” and “very fine people” controversies. She noted Bertrand’s assertion that there was no evidence of Iranian attempts to interfere in the 2024 election.
“This week, we witnessed the same reporter being utilized to advance a false narrative against the President of the United States and, more critically, against the courageous fighter pilots who executed one of the most successful operations in U.S. history. The American public recognizes that this operation was an unequivocal success,” Leavitt stated to the press.
WATCH:
Reporter: The administration indicated that the CIA report was low-confidence intelligence. Can you elaborate on what other assessments were included to ascertain the effectiveness of these strikes?
Leavitt: Certainly! I can assure you that the CIA director stated that when we analyze all available intelligence to date, it concludes that the strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities were unequivocally successful. It was a total obliteration, as the President described. Not only does our intelligence confirm this, but the Iranian foreign minister has also acknowledged it. Israel has reached the same conclusion based on its intelligence, and even the United Nations has concurred. The last time the United Nations, Israel, Iran, and the United States found common ground was to agree that the sky is blue. But now, they all agree that Iran’s nuclear facilities were thoroughly demolished. I must stress that what you referred to as a low-confidence, preliminary intelligence assessment was not fully disclosed to the media. Only fragments of that assessment were leaked to CNN, and we have seen this tactic before, where individuals in the intelligence community or perhaps Capitol Hill— the identity is unclear, but I suspect the FBI is investigating the leaker, as this is illegal, and they need to be held accountable.
Specific bits of intelligence were leaked to push a false narrative, and it is worth noting that this same reporter, Natasha Bertrand of CNN, has a history of being manipulated. In 2020, she was the one who claimed that 51 intelligence analysts had inaccurately stated that the Hunter Biden laptop was a product of Russian disinformation. We now recognize that to be false, correct? We can all agree on that at this point? That was a deception from the intelligence community. Additionally, in 2020, this same journalist suggested that a top intelligence agency had dismissed the man-made lab leak theory regarding the origins of the Coronavirus. Again, the President was right about that. This reporter propagated misinformation from the intelligence community to reinforce a narrative she favored. And guess what? We now know that to be true. In 2024, Bertrand also disseminated the “suckers and losers” hoax and misrepresented the President’s remarks regarding “very fine people.” Moreover, last October, she published an article in Politico asserting that John Ratcliffe was speaking without evidence when he claimed that Iran was attempting to interfere with President Trump’s campaign.
We later discovered that Ratcliffe was indeed correct, as the Biden administration declassified an intelligence report confirming high confidence that Iran had engaged in an influence campaign to undermine Trump’s candidacy. In fact, we even learned that the Iranians had plotted to take President Trump’s life. This journalist has unfortunately been exploited by individuals within the government who harbor animosity towards Donald Trump to propagate false and misleading narratives. She should be ashamed of herself. That is not what true journalism entails. Journalism should be about uncovering facts and truth. This week, we observed the same reporter being misused to further a false narrative against the President of the United States and, more importantly, against the valiant fighter pilots who executed a remarkably successful operation in American history. The American people are fully aware that this operation was a resounding success.
